Hitman Ch 2: Sanctuary
by silentcrisis
Summary: The second chapter for my Hitman 2: SA novel, if you could call it that. Most of you know it as 'Gontranno Sanctuary'. Enjoy!


**Sanctuary**

_Doves flutter in the warm Sicilian air as it rises up the granite walls of the Holy giant. Skilled hands work in to the lush earth. A church looks upon a sage moving down its aged eroded stairways as he descends towards the flowerbed. His kind eyes emanate wisdom as his smile shows off his kind heart. The holy man looks upon the pale reflection from the bald man's head as the pages of the Holy Bible flutter and turn gently in the comfortable summer breeze._

"Buona mattina il mio figlio… Come siete questo giorno fine di estate?"

"Sono benissimo, padre."

The holy man notices the bible lying on the low cut green grass of the monastery's garden and picks it up. He notes the crease found in the holy binding and opens it to Thessalonians 1 & 2. "Why do you linger on such a topic, my son?"

The figure rises… His physique seemingly overwhelms the priests eyes. "I'm looking for my meaning. My truth, my path.", the bald man says meeting with the priests light brown eyes.

The father gives off a kind smile and says, "My son, Tobias, God has a place for all of us. He has a path set for all of us." He hands the book to Tobias. "Follow the path that you think is yours… For he will accept it."

The holy man turns around and begins to ascend up the twisted steps of the monastery garden. Tobias stares up into the orange sky of the Sicilian evening. Night falls quicker than Tobias falls into his bed…

47 stares into an iron gate. Something is different about this one though. The insignia is oh so familiar to his trained eyes. He pulls the gate listening to the screech that tenses his mind and shuts it behind him looking down the stone path leading to an aged building. He makes his way towards the entrance every step as distinct as the last. He pulls open the door noticing a man in a blue overcoat behind a caged office.

"Coming…" the man says calmly approaching him. He gazes through the cage at 47 with lazy eyes. "How may I be of service to you Mr.?…"

"Rieper, Tobias Rieper. I have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Kovak's."

Lazy eyes unnoticeably turn sharp. "Ah yes, Mr. Rieper, the Doctor has been expecting you." He presses a button located next to his desk and the doors open. 47 walks through the man's office and is directed into a foyer lobby. "His office is through the doors on the 2nd floor and is the office on your right." The doors shut behind Tobias tightly and secured.

47 makes his way to the 2nd floor entrance only to be met by another guard in an overcoat. "I'm sorry, we are performing a surgery. You'll have to go around. 47 nods in agreement and heads for the door on his right.

On the way to the rear of the building he notices a door cracked open. He peers inside with his bald head and notices a bottle of morphine and a syringe lying on the table in front of him. He picks up the syringe and fills it with 100mg of Morphine and then tucks it away in to his suit. He heads to the office and stares in to the door's sign saying 'Dr. Kovak's'. He moves towards it slowly as a predator does about to make the kill. As he moves towards the door he notices a slight burning and itching sensation on the back of his neck. As he gets closer the burning sensation intensifies. As he puts his hands on the door knob the burning and pain on his neck overcomes him and he falls on to the floor…

47 rolls out of his bead, the sweat beading off his head and on to the wooden floorboards beneath him. "Just a dream", he says clenching the tattoo on the back of his head. "When will they go away."

47 crawls back into bed. Soon his eyes become thinner than the brow on his forehead and he once again falls asleep.

Morning comes sooner than the night itself. A white mist fills the air as the doves bathe in a sun dial. Tobias sits at his desk oblivious to all things around him. Suddenly the door knocks, he walks to the door to find Father Vittorio waiting there to greet him.

"Good morning my son! How was your sleep?"

"I'm still having those dreams father… And I would like to talk to you about something…"

"Quiet my son…", the kind man says. "The Confessional is always open for one to bring out their past. Meet me their at noon and we will talk." The priest once again disappears into the morning mist. 47 picks up his shovel and begins to nurture the garden.

After a while he hears the bells from the church echo through the courtyard. He drops his shovel and slowly progresses towards the church. He pushes through the gigantic foyer doors and enters the gigantic halls of the church. He sees the cross erect itself elegantly into the air. A aluminous glow rains down upon the cross giving off a blinding silverish glow. He pushes the curtain aside in the Confessional.

47 crouches upon the kneeler and links his fingers together. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned." A glass heart opens and a serious voice enters the booth.

"Father, I have done, done many terrible things… evil things…"

"Yes, continue my son."

"I have killed… killed many people out for money, greed, pure hatred. Why should God forgive me if I'm not even of this world?"

Silence fills the booth for a couple of moments. "My son, he has a place for all of us, everything. He has given you a path. It was your choice to follow it or deny it. You are as human as everyone else on this earth. You too, have a place in God's house. Now stay here, my son, and pray."

The priest gets up and opens the door to his exit as 47 begins to pray. The priest begins to head towards his cabin when he hears the screeching of tires come from the Courtyard entrance. He opens the doors to investigate.

A red sports car sits on the dirt road and two rotund figures step out of the car.

"I'm sorry, the church is closed today, come back tom…" the priest kind words are cut short by the man's fist which is connected with his stomach. The priest gags for air as another finely aimed blow hits him right in the temple. The priest is out cold…

His ears suddenly perk up. All that was going on before is suddenly ignored. He instinctively crouches and moves towards the entrance of the door. Every footstep is silent as he moves in a covert manner towards the door. He peeks through the keyhole to see an Italian man wielding a Chrome Desert Eagle pull out a knife and stab a note to the wooden door in the entrance. The man leaves as quickly as he came.

After waiting for about a minute 47 sneaks around looking for a sign of their retreat. He looks out on the road and sees the brownish dust fill the air as the red sports car speed off into the Sicilian morning. He pulls out the kitchen knife and reads the letter…

"We hope you have enjoyed are famous hospitality on this beautiful land and wish to charge you for you stay. You will make a transfer of $500,000 dollars no later than 2100 hours tomorrow. Your guest very much enjoys fishing… We will keep him entertained until payment is met… Qui da noi ancora. Guissepi Guelliani "

His icy blue eyes suddenly fill up with fire. "I can't pay that…", he suddenly and, with rage, he throws the knife at the tree at the other end of the courtyard. It sticks perfectly into the baby oak. "That's it… time to dig up the past…"


End file.
